German wants to reserve bikespace

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Oldjohnw
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by Oldjohnw »

Northumberland is empty. Just hills and coastline.
John
Oldjohnw
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by Oldjohnw »

Brucey wrote:
Oldjohnw wrote:The suggestion that the answer is to get a folding bike is both simple and sensible. But at £1000 not necessarily practical.


agreed. But fortunately you don't have to spend £1000; for example my folding bike is a Rudge (Montague) BiFrame and it cost me a small fraction of that. Better yet, apart from the frameset, most of the parts that make it go are common-or-garden parts which appear on any number of older 26" wheel MTBs etc, i.e. they are readily available and not too pricey. Proprietary parts that make the most compact folding bikes fold very small are, by and large, rather expensive.

cheers


I'm sure you're right but this requires a level of mechanical competence I lack.
John
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mjr
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by mjr »

Confusedbycycling wrote:
JohnW wrote:This may be just me, but in that instance I'd walk that distance rather than take the train. As you say, each to his own......................London is unique in Britain though; the tube obviates the need to know the way!


Knowing the London underground visiting London as a teenager I have slight memories of the underground stations. Very steep and long escalators. Perhaps to steep to go upstairs with a heavy loaded bicycle.

You're not allowed on the deep tube lines with non-folded bicycles, so at most you should face one or two flights of stairs. Liverpool Street Circle/Hammersmith line is step-free eastbound but I think there are stairs westbound. Paddington Circle/Hammersmith (where you would arrive) has lifts.

I'd ride it, but (to answer a John's question) I work in London occasionally. I doubt the shallow underground like the Circle would be too difficult with a bike.

[...]Talking about left-side traffic. What side I have to use on bridleways, railway paths and so on. I had the impression that one can use the side he likes.

No, the law (Highways Act 1835 section 78) says basically all vehicles have to keep left on all roads, which includes bridleways, cycleways and so on, but that's neither widely known nor widely done. It seems that unless you cause a collision as a result, it doesn't much matter. There are several other threads on here discussing this which might be found in a search.
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Es ist doch Sitte, links zu fahren auch auf Bahnradwege, Kanalufer usw!
It is customary to cycle on the left, on railway cycleways, canal paths and the like!

And the HC recommends walking on the right
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JohnW
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by JohnW »

mjr wrote:.................I doubt the shallow underground like the Circle would be too difficult with a bike..................


I may be saying this in ignorance, but I'd always been under the impression that un-folded bikes weren't permitted on the tube. I hadn't intended to give the impression that it may be.
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by JohnW »

mjr wrote:.................No, the law (Highways Act 1835 section 78) says basically all vehicles have to keep left on all roads, which includes bridleways, cycleways and so on, but that's neither widely known nor widely done. It seems that unless you cause a collision as a result, it doesn't much matter. There are several other threads on here discussing this which might be found in a search.

..................certainly local convention is to ride on the left, on Greenways, cyclepaths etc. I didn't know that it was bound in law. However, whilst responsible adult cyclists usually obey the convention, there are many, many riders who ignore it and ride all over the path just as they like. We have to be prepared for that.
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mjr
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by mjr »

JohnW wrote:
mjr wrote:.................I doubt the shallow underground like the Circle would be too difficult with a bike..................


I may be saying this in ignorance, but I'd always been under the impression that un-folded bikes weren't permitted on the tube. I hadn't intended to give the impression that it may be.

See the link in my earlier post: unfolded bikes are allowed off-peak on the subsurface railway aka the shallow underground lines.
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JohnW
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by JohnW »

mjr wrote:
JohnW wrote:
mjr wrote:.................I doubt the shallow underground like the Circle would be too difficult with a bike..................


I may be saying this in ignorance, but I'd always been under the impression that un-folded bikes weren't permitted on the tube. I hadn't intended to give the impression that it may be.

See the link in my earlier post: unfolded bikes are allowed off-peak on the subsurface railway aka the shallow underground lines.


Ah - right - thanks. An issue for a visitor would be discerning from the underground maps which were the shallow lines.
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mjr
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by mjr »

There's a map on the link.
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Confusedbycycling
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by Confusedbycycling »

After cycling in Wales , I want to say thank you to all, who helped me to sort out, how to travel with bicycle and train in the UK.

The experience was very good. The main difference between Germany and UK is, there were always members of staff at the station, which I could ask for advice. In Germany there are the most times no members of staff to ask. So the situation was more comfortable in the UK than in Germany going by a unkown connection.

Cycling through London was very pleasant. The traffic was not so fast like I knew from Edinburgh and Glasgow. The main issue were pedestrians jumping on the street without looking left and right.

Completely different was the experience cycling to Manchester Piccadilly Station. Fast and dense motor vehicles. By the way do you know in the UK bypass roads? It seems to me, you push the whole traffic through the heart of the cities and not around the town.

If someone is interested on more details of my journey through Wales, I have written a report in German http://www.radreisen.stephan-zitzmann.de/radreise-2019/ with many pictures.
st599_uk
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by st599_uk »

Confusedbycycling wrote:If someone is interested on more details of my journey through Wales, I have written a report in German http://www.radreisen.stephan-zitzmann.de/radreise-2019/ with many pictures.


Nice write-up, I'm a struggling learner in German.

I got a bit confused by Zoll meaning both Customs and Inch.
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mjr
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

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Confusedbycycling wrote:By the way do you know in the UK bypass roads? It seems to me, you push the whole traffic through the heart of the cities and not around the town.

No, we don't. The UK builds things called "bypasses" but most are really "relief roads" because we fail to close the routes through the heart to through traffic. I discuss this in viewtopic.php?f=6&t=129801

It seems that in most cases where UK government does actually close the through routes, they are also closed to cycling and a source of income from penalty fines, as in Peterborough or Thetford, to name two near me where National Cycle Routes are signposted through no-cycling zones.
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mattheus
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by mattheus »

st599_uk wrote:
Confusedbycycling wrote:If someone is interested on more details of my journey through Wales, I have written a report in German http://www.radreisen.stephan-zitzmann.de/radreise-2019/ with many pictures.


Nice write-up, I'm a struggling learner in German.


+1 !

This is my favourite page so far http://www.radreisen.stephan-zitzmann.d ... lust-75km/
... partly as I know the area a bit, and partly for this:
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Excellent observation : )

[but can I be a little critical and ask if you mean "LLanrwst" instead of "Llanrlust" ? ]

I also like the pictures that capture a few typical welsh grey cloudy days - the countryside is still beautiful, and they are more like the real views we see in this lovely part of the U.K. [and sometimes grey skies make for more drama].
http://www.radreisen.stephan-zitzmann.d ... 8-Pano.jpg
Psamathe
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by Psamathe »

gbnz wrote:.....
Greater Anglia; Reservations on the mainline Intercity service can be made by calling our Customer Relations team on 0345 600 7245 and selecting option 8. You must provide at least 24 hours in order to make a reservation. Spaces are subject to availability, on a first come, first served basis
....

Last year and this year I've reserved spaces and never had or been asked to purchase a ticket. Last year their Customer Services wanted to book me on two trains as I was unsure how long the Harwich to Ipswich ride would take. I didn't like the idea but they said they would anyway (in case I missed the 1st reservation train).

This year Maningtree towards Norwich I booked (no ticket) giving me loads of time to ride Harwich to Maningtree. I arrived at Maningtree (still with no ticket) in plenty of time and when purchasing my ticket at the ticket office asked if there would likely be bike space on an earlier train; ticket person said "no idea but I can make you a bike reservation on the earlier train"; which he did, printing out ticket to be attached to bike. So the reservation I ended-up using was made less than 30 mins before train departure.

Ian
pete75
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Re: German wants to reserve bikespace

Post by pete75 »

mjr wrote:
Confusedbycycling wrote:By the way do you know in the UK bypass roads? It seems to me, you push the whole traffic through the heart of the cities and not around the town.

No, we don't. The UK builds things called "bypasses" but most are really "relief roads" because we fail to close the routes through the heart to through traffic. I discuss this in viewtopic.php?f=6&t=129801



Yeah but both roads are often still congested which shows the capacity of both old and new roads is needed.
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